Book 1, Chapter 2 Summary

Nick disposes of Tessio's body, and the bloody suitcases carrying the chopped up remains of Tessio's accomplices, at a funeral home owned by Amerigo Bonasera. The funeral parlor owner owes the Corleones from the time the young Nick was hired to beat up some punks who'd assaulted Amerigo's daughter (in The Godfather). Amerigo's son-in-law, who now runs the parlor, takes the bodies from Nick without a word.

Charlotte Geraci, Nick's wife, is waiting up for him when he comes home. She's seen the newspapers, which detail the gangland style slayings of the heads of the Tattaglia and Barzini families. Nick offers not one word of information, and watches as Charlotte swallows her curiosity. Meanwhile at her parents' house in New Hampshire, Michael's wife, Kay Corleone, also lies awake, wrestling with the questions she's not allowed to ask her husband. Why did...